DeWine announces $5.4 million in grant funds for Ashtabula County

May 10—GENEVA — Gov. Mike DeWine announced the awarding of grants for downtown revitalization in Geneva and Ashtabula, construction of erosion protection in Geneva-on-the-Lake, and construction of a pair of kayak ramps in Conneaut on Thursday morning.

DeWine was joined on stage at the Geneva Community Center by Geneva Council President John Barbo, Geneva City Manager Joseph Varckette, Ashtabula City Manager Jim Timonere and Director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia John Carey, announcing a $2.6 million grant to the city of Geneva, a $1.6 million grant to the city of Ashtabula, a $860,000 grant to the village of Geneva-on-the-Lake, and a $276,000 grant to the city of Conneaut.

The funding comes from $500 million directed to the state's Appalachian counties.

"About two years ago, my lieutenant governor and I, Jon Husted, had an idea," DeWine said. "There was a lot of debate about some the federal dollars that were coming in, how we should spend it. We thought that we really should try to do something impactful for what's classified as our Appalachian counties."

Thirty-two of the state's 88 counties are classified as Appalachian, he said.

"We came up with the idea, frankly, to try to really have an impact, to take $500 million and set it aside for our Appalachian counties," DeWine said.

He said his administration wanted to rely on local communities to determine how the money was to be spent.

"We asked our communities to think big, we asked them for their ideas, to come up with what they thought would be transformative for their local community," DeWine said. "And our counties, frankly, did not disappoint."

The program had $500 million available, and $4 billion in requests were made, he said.

"What this did is, we provided some money so communities could really come up with a plan," DeWine said.

Communities that did not receive grant funding will still be able to pursue parts of the plan with funding from other sources, he said.

The funding for Geneva will pay for a variety of outdoor activities, with increased sidewalk connections, the continuation of stamped concrete grape vines, new way-finding signage, murals, landscaping and pocket parks, according to a press release from DeWine's office.

"It's your plan, and we're happy to help with that plan," DeWine said. "This plan will not only add to the quality of life for those who live here, but these improvements will, I think, also attract visitors who will spend money here, businesses that will open here, all of this contributing to a stronger economy here in Ashtabula County."

Varckette said when city leadership first learned about the grant opportunity, they were excited.

"We were excited about the opportunities and the visions and the things that would enable us to think forward and get to our future," he said.

City leadership was able to bring a wide variety of people together for their project, Varckette said.

"It became very clear that our project, as we were narrowing in on it, would in fact be transformational, and it would be a catalyst for future development," he said. "But that was all dependent on whether or not we were able to get funding."

The project will be transformational, and will enable the city to continue downtown place-making efforts halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Varckette said.

"All these improvements combined will have a huge impact on our community," he said.

After the event, Varckette said the grant is game-changing.

The grant for Ashtabula will provide funds for outdoor seating, way-finding signage, murals and other improvements.

Timonere said DeWine's staff did an excellent job keeping what applications were receiving grant funds.

He thanked DeWine and his staff for not forgetting about small communities.

"We are so appreciative for this opportunity to give back to our entrepreneurs on what truly are America's main streets," Timonere said.

He believes the funding will be transformative.

"In the past, through the Department of Development, we received similar funding for our historic Ashtabula Harbor," Timonere said. "And it has transformed that district into a regional destination for tourism. It also kicked off investment in our area, in our city. ... We expect that same outcome for our Main Avenue business district."

Geneva-on-the-Lake's grant will pay for shoreline erosion protection.

GOTL Mayor Dwayne Bennett said this will extend what the village has been doing for a number of years.

"This will do about another eight, nine houses along the shoreline, continuing down from [Geneva] Township Park," he said.

Village Deputy Administrator Jessi Spurlock said the shoreline created will be public access.

Bennett said the public access will be through Township Park.

"This is obviously the first stage of it, and we'd love to continue it," he said. "Obviously, funding and money is going to dictate that."

Spurlock said the project will include hardened structures as breakwalls and re-introducing natural plants to help protect the shoreline from erosion.

Bennett said the hope is that once this section is done, more property owners will see the final product and sign up to participate in the project.

Conneaut received grant funding for two kayak launch points, creating the Twin Bridges Water Trail on Conneaut Creek, according to the press release.

Conneaut City Manager Nick Sanford said a kayak launch ramp will be installed near the southern limits of the city.

"The property is owned by the Conneaut Township Park Commission, I believe they were the sub-applicant for this," he said.

The grant funds will create recreational space for people who want to use Conneaut Creek at that location, Sanford said.

"It will be nice," he said.

After the event, DeWine said the state provided money to help communities submitting grant requests to come up with a master plan.

"For those who didn't get funded, what they now have is a plan, and it's a plan that county commissioners can look at and work on, villages can work on, we can work on in the future, help them," he said. "Many times, small communities, small counties, really don't have the ability to put together a full plan. They've got ideas and visions, but not a full plan."

He said in addition to the grant funding, the Appalachian region now has a number of specific plans that could be funded over the next decade.

"Our goal was to ... have the communities come up with ideas that will be transformative for their communities," DeWine said.

Many of the state's Appalachian counties are already tourist destinations, he said.

"This is going to allow them to become even more destinations," DeWine said. "We have Ohioans who travel out of state to go see things. You look at our Appalachian counties, there's no more beautiful places in the world, really, than these counties."

DeWine was pleased with the imagination and vision shown by applicants.

Recipients will have until the end of 2026 to spend the money, Carey said.

"We also, in awarding the grants, looked at that, to see whether or not they could spend it or not," DeWine said.

The state has never invested this much at one time in the Appalachian counties, he said.

"The thing that makes this different, two thing: One, it's locally driven, and two, the local communities, we gave them planning support," DeWine said.